The Picture House, Leeds

bloody hell. this is basically a retail park carvery restaurant plonked in a city centre shopping centre. It’s absolutely hideous looking and the smell around the pub, as Will noted, is basically unbearable if you’re not a fan of roasted meat. Must say i thought the Crown carvery brand was extinct but it’s very much alive and well here. No real ale on the several handpumps.

Encouraged by the reviews below I included this one on a recent circuit of Leeds city centre. I entered by the door on the right, near the entrance to the Merrion Centre, to be greeted by an overwhelming smell of roast meat. As a vegetarian I find this particularly off-putting, though I accept that most people will not find it so. I proceeded towards the bar but had somehow lost all interest in beer and just kept going and left by the door at the opposite side of the building.

Very unpromising-looking establishment, housed in a particularly poor example of 1960s architecture. Large rectangular bar, and distinctly food-led as you would expect from a Crown Carveries outlet (and it also now offers a takeaway service). However, it has five handpumps, three of which were on and offering EPA, Pedigree and Leeds Pale (£2.35). Overall, not great but certainly better than it looks.